Insights

WATG-Designed Paradise City Breaks Ground

By WATG
November 25, 2014

Set to open in 2017, Paradise City, designed by global design firm WATG-Honolulu, broke ground 20 November. Positioned to be the first integrated resort (IR) in South Korea, Paradise City is being developed through a joint venture between Korea’s casino operator, Paradise Group and Japan’s entertainment group, Sega Sammy Holdings, Inc.

Located in the International Business Center of Incheon International Airport , the highly anticipated IR will serve as the gateway, to the Korean Wave “hallyu,” for foreign travelers seeking a unique resort and entertainment experience.

“To showcase Korea’s rich cultural, social, and commercial identity in the design of the country’s first integrated gaming/entertainment resort was a fascinating aspect to this project” said Sean Sih-Young Jeon, vice president, WATG. “Inspired by this vision, we created smooth transitions between the different resort ‘zones’ to offer a unique integrated resort experience for visitors.”

Paradise City will have seven distinct zones, each featuring its own unique experience, thence providing visitors a feeling of embarking on a voyage.

“The building architecture was designed to reflect a sense of timelessness, but with a ‘modern energy’ vibe.” said Robert Payan, senior vice president, WATG. “Our approach was to design the core of the buildings with a ‘timeless modern classic’ influence, and then to introduce ‘purely modern’ forms to give the structures a new vibrant energy.”

“We have designed a ‘stage set’ in the master plan for Paradise City to feel like a ‘city fabric’ where guests will want to explore and lose their sense of time,” continued Payan. “The concept of time is represented by a ‘city built over time’ reflecting and recalling the past, present, and future. The integration of these overlapping concepts is what will make Paradise City a rich environmental experience for all visitors.”

WATG’s design office in Honolulu has been closely involved with the development of Korea’s gaming and resort industry with the design of several resort/casinos over the past two decades, such as Shilla, Hyatt and Lotte in Jeju and Korea’s only domestic casino, Kangwon Land.

About WATG

WATG is one of the world’s leading integrated design firms and ranked as 2nd in the world among hotel architectural firms. WATG’s interior design firm, Wimberly, was ranked 11th by Interior Design Magazine in their 2015 Hospitality Giants survey.

With over 70 years of design excellence, WATG and Wimberly, have become the world’s leading design consultants in the industry since starting in Hawaii in 1945. With offices in Irvine, Beverly Hills, Seattle, Chicago, New York, London, Miami, Istanbul, Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai and Honolulu, the multi-disciplinary design firm is best known for creating internationally acclaimed destinations in 160 countries across six continents. WATG offers integrated design solutions comprising strategy, planning, architecture, landscape, and interiors for urban, tourism and resort destinations. WATG’s projects are renowned not only for their design and sense of place but also for their bottom-line success.

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